For the first time blue honeysuckle was mentioned as a horticultural plant in 1894. By 1998 the number of commercial cultivars in Russia has reached 60. This crop spread widely in private and commercial gardens of Northern and Central Russia, in the Urals, Siberia and the Far East. Major positive features of blue honeysuckle are extra-early ripening, high content of ascorbic acid and bioactive flavonoides in fruits, and outstanding frost resistance of plants and flowers. Collecting missions by the N.I.Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry (VIR) have composed a unique collection numbering over 500 accessions. By morphological, anatomical, biochemical and DNA analyses, as well as ploidy studies and geographical mapping of blue honeysuckle genetic resources, it has been found that in Eurasia genetic diversity of the crop is represented by four species, that are the diploid endemic ones L. edulis Turcz. ex Freyn, L. boczkarnikowae Plekh., L. iliensis Pojark and the tetraploid L. caerulea L. Only L. caerulea has been domesticated. A long-term program for honeysuckle breeding and corresponding methods have been developed. Priorities of the program are as follows: high productivity, deep dormancy, fruit quality, high content of ascorbic acid and bioactive flavonoides. As a result of investigations, genetical control of ripening, non-shattering and fruit size have been elucidated, The VIR's collection has been successfully screened for the sources of 18 valuable breeding characters. By now, 15 cultivars have been bred at VIR.
